Asthma & Allergies

Whether allergy sufferers have symptoms that are mild or severe, they really only want one thing: relief. So it's particularly distressing that the very medication they hope will ease symptoms can cause different, sometimes more severe, allergic responses. According to a presentation at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) Annual Scientific Meeting, … [Read more...]

Many people don't realize allergies and asthma go hand-in-hand, and about 90 percent of kids with asthma also have allergies. Even more important, when asthma is undiagnosed or poorly controlled, children are at risk for suffering difficult-to-treat allergic reactions to food. According to a study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) … [Read more...]

Cardiff University scientists have for the first time identified the potential root cause of asthma and an existing drug that offers a new treatment. Published in Science Translational Medicine journal, Cardiff University researchers, working in collaboration with scientists at King's College London and the Mayo Clinic (USA), describe the previously unproven role of the calcium … [Read more...]

A new study led by researchers at King's College London in collaboration with the University of Manchester and the University of Dundee has found a strong link between exposure to peanut protein in household dust during infancy and the development of peanut allergy in children genetically predisposed to a skin barrier defect. Around 2% of school children in the UK and the US … [Read more...]

Asthma may be more harmful than was previously thought, according to UCLA researchers who found that genetic damage is present in circulating, or peripheral, blood. Doctors previously thought that the genetic damage it caused was limited to the lungs. In the study, researchers looked for the overexpression of a cytokine called interleukin 13 (IL-13), which is known to … [Read more...]

Results of a new study by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Amherst strongly suggest that there will be notable increases in grass pollen production and allergen exposure up to 202 percent in the next 100 years, leading to a significant, worldwide impact on human health due to predicted rises in carbon dioxide (CO2) and ozone (O3) due to climate change. While CO2 … [Read more...]

Research from The University of Manchester is bringing scientists a step closer to developing new therapies for controlling the body's response to allergies and parasitic worm infections. In a paper published in Nature Communications, Professor Andrew MacDonald and his team at the Manchester Collaborative Centre for Inflammation Research discovered a new way that immune … [Read more...]

A new study shows how pharmacies might collaborate with physicians and families to reduce asthma-related illness. The Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center study found that pharmacies in neighborhoods with high rates of asthma-related emergency-room use and hospitalization filled fewer asthma controller medications compared to asthma rescue … [Read more...]

Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have found, for the first time, that spirometry was underutilized for asthma diagnosis and management in U.S. adults from 2001 to 2011, despite its accuracy, cost effectiveness and the publication of national guidelines advocating its use. Spirometry is a common test that allows physicians to determine how … [Read more...]

One in 10 children are living with asthma right now. It’s a life-long condition and costs $18 billion a year in medical expenses, lost work and school days. Now, there’s a new approach to help your children’s health while saving time and money. Quin McCormac, an 11 year old asthma patient, told Ivanhoe, “I play second and short stop. One day I was just playing and all the … [Read more...]

In what they are calling a surprising finding in a large study of men who completed questionnaires and allowed scientists to review their medical records, Johns Hopkins researchers report that men with a history of asthma were less likely than those without it to develop lethal prostate cancer. In their analysis of data collected from 47,880 men and described online Feb. 27 … [Read more...]

Fatal cardiac events are often preceded by abnormal blood clots, also called thrombosis. Scientists have now developed a molecular imaging technique that could save lives by revealing troublesome thrombi, according to a study presented at the 2015 annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI). 'Thrombosis is the underlying cause of deadly … [Read more...]

In recent years and months, peanut allergies in children have been in the news frequently, as scientists reveal new insights into why more and more children are developing them and what can be done to avoid them. However, until now, few have studied the connection between peanut allergy and childhood asthma. A new study has shown that many children who have asthma have a … [Read more...]

In rare cases, patients with allergies to metals develop persistent skin rashes after metal devices are implanted near the skin. New research suggests these patients may be at increased risk of an unusual and aggressive form of skin cancer. Metal alloys help make orthopedic implants stronger and more durable. But people with sensitivity to these metals, which include nickel, … [Read more...]

By studying the mode of action of the interleukin-33 protein, an alarmin for white blood cells, a team at the Institut de Pharmacologie et de Biologie Structurale (IPBS -- CNRS/Université Toulouse III -- Paul Sabatier) has been able to evidence truncated forms of the protein that act as potent activators of the cells responsible for triggering allergic reactions. This … [Read more...]

To determine whether new medicines are safe and effective for humans, researchers must first test them in animals, which is costly and time-consuming, as well as ethically challenging. In a study published in ACS' journal Molecular Pharmaceutics, scientists report that they've developed a simple, "3D" laboratory method to test asthma and allergy medications that mimics what … [Read more...]

Ginseng can help treat and prevent influenza and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), a respiratory virus that infects the lungs and breathing passages, according to research findings by a scientist in Georgia State University's new Institute for Biomedical Sciences. In a recent issue of Nutrients and an upcoming publication of the International Journal of Molecular Medicine, … [Read more...]

Asthma is one of the most common chronic diseases in children, and it can only be managed, not cured. It affects a disproportionally higher percentage of low-income, urban minority children, and is also the most common disease-related reason for children missing school. This can have a negative effect on their academic achievement, as well as later success in life. Initial … [Read more...]

Yoga has long been promoted as a method for improving physical and mental well-being. And although yoga is often suggested to asthma sufferers to help alleviate symptoms, a new study found little evidence that yoga will improve symptoms. Researchers of the report, which is published in the June issue of Annals of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, the scientific journal of … [Read more...]

Statins continue to show that their benefits extend beyond their original focus of lowering high cholesterol. With the increasing prevalence of asthma, scientists are studying the effects of statins in the lungs. In a new study in Physiological Reports, a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, has demonstrated the feasibility of using statins to treat … [Read more...]

New research from the Canadian Healthy Infant Longitudinal Development (CHILD) study shows that exposure to outdoor air pollution during the first year of life increases the risk of developing allergies to food, mould, pets and pests. The study, published in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives, showed that the sensitivity to allergens was associated with exposure to … [Read more...]

While it may be a stereotype, it's also true that women seek medical care more frequently than men do. And a recent study shows that women with acute asthma who are treated in the emergency department (ED) are 60 percent more likely than men treated in the ED to need hospitalization. The study, published in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific … [Read more...]

Parents of kids with severe allergies know how scary a severe allergic reaction (anaphylaxis) is. New research offers clues as to why some kids can have a second, related reaction hours later -- and what to do about it. A study in the Annals of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology, the scientific publication of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI), … [Read more...]

Despite previous findings suggesting a link between soy intake and decreased asthma severity, a new study from Northwestern Medicine and the American Lung Association Asthma Clinical Research Network shows soy supplements do not improve lung function for patients with asthma. The paper, published May 26 in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), highlights … [Read more...]

Particles of less than 2.5 microns emitted by vehicles have negative repercussions for bronchiolitis, pneumonia, asthma and bronchitis in children. Should their concentrations be reduced to the levels recommended by the WHO, hospital admissions of children with these illnesses would decrease, amounting to a daily saving of 200 euros, according to calculations by researchers … [Read more...]

Aerobic exercise seems to curb the severity of asthma symptoms and improves quality of life, finds a small study published online in the journal Thorax. It should be routinely added to the drug treatment of moderate to severe asthma, suggest the researchers, who point out that people with asthma often avoid exercise for fear of triggering symptoms. Exercise has been … [Read more...]

UK trainee doctors on the frontline of care seem to be no better at recognising and treating the potentially fatal allergic reaction, known as anaphylaxis, than they were 10 years ago, reveals a small study published in Postgraduate Medical Journal. This is despite major changes to medical education, designed to equip trainees with the core knowledge and skills needed to … [Read more...]